Food services firm Sodexho brings outsourced recruitment back in house

Food services company Sodexho is bringing all its recruitment back in-house after a three-year outsourcing deal failed to work out, Personnel Today has learned.

The company, which employs 48,000 people across five business sectors, has admitted it will not renew its contract with outsourcing provider Berkeley Scott Group, because it found the whole process “lacked consistency”, with “no set procedures for recruitment”.

Difficulties with tracking the communication Berkeley Scott had with candidates and being unable to effectively share talent between different business divisions worsened the problem.

Tamsin O’Bryen, resourcing manager at Sodexho, told Personnel Today: “There was a real need to create a quicker and more efficient recruitment process, which would improve candidate communication and support our new branding. When my predecessor left, the [outsourcing] relationship was managed by the purchasing department rather than HR. So there was less emphasis on talent and competence.”

O’Bryen said HR played a pivotal role in bringing recruitment back in-house. “The decision was taken, driven and owned by HR following feedback from the business.”

New arrangements included ensuring there was a key point of contact in HR for each of the company’s business lines, and the use of recruitment software to manage and track candidates.

A spokeswoman for Berkeley Scott admitted that the outsourcing arrangement “didn’t work so well” towards the end, but insisted the contract had “finished amicably”.